Manual removal of tires from wheel rims has always been a challenging job. With the advent of new tire technology, including high performance tires and low profile tires that have tire side walls that are stiffer and are much shorter than they have historically been. Tire side walls are becoming increasingly stiff making what was always a challenging job even more challenging.
Tire spoons have long been used to assist in removing and installing tires and the wheel rims. Tire spoons are often long steel rods having a flat section on one end or, in some instances, either end.
Often, two tire spoons are used. In the first step, the mechanic will get one spoon inserted between the tire and rim and use that spoon to pry the tire edge over the rim. The mechanic will attempt to hold this first spoon in place while working and inserting a second spoon. Manipulating the second spoon often requires the use of two hands so in order to keep the first spoon in place the mechanic will often have to use a knee or legs in some fashion. Due to the awkwardness of a single mechanic attempting to operate two tire spoons, it is not usual for the first spoon to slip out of the mechanic's grasp thereby creating an undesirable situation.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide a method and/or an apparatus that can anchor or hold the first spoon in place and thereby allowing a mechanic to have his attention at operating the second tire spoon to remove the tire from the wheel rim.